Deliverence
by Toasted Crumpet
Summary: SLASH.Arthur growled, “Goddamn it, Merlin, stay with me,” jamming his hands down harder, and Merlin cried out in pain. “The physician will be here, and I swear to God if you’ve made me get bloody for no reason at all, I'll kill you myself."


**A/N:** I'm celebrating my freedom from the utter doom of University and the quagmire of a 12,000-word dissertation with a piece of Merlin fiction. It was high time I jumped on the bandwagon again. Hope you guys enjoy it.

**Title:** Deliverance

**Fandom: **BBC Merlin

**Pairing:** Merlin/Arthur

**Rating:** PG-13

**Warnings:** Battle wounds, blood, fluffy feelings?

**Word count:** ~1200

**Summary: **_Arthur growled, "Goddamn it, Wizard, stay with me," jamming his hands down harder, and Merlin let out a weak cry of pain at the action. "The physician will be here any moment now, and I swear to God if you've made me get bloody for no reason at all, I'll kill you myself."_

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"Don't you dare get used to this, Merlin," King Arthur gritted out, the ever-present arrogant tone was replaced by something gritty and angry. If Merlin didn't know any better, he would have thought it sounded something a little like fear. Which was pretty stupid. Arthur was never scared. Never.

He was a horrible sight. Covered in blood, it was splattered over his shining breastplate and chain strong handsome face was hovering over Merlin's, staring down at him with those intense blue eyes, and Merlin felt his breath catch painfully in his throat. Arthur's face always put Merlin in mind of the Sidhe warrior drawing he had found in one of Giaus's old books; smooth chiselled features that made Merlin's stomach clench just looking at it.

Now it was smeared with blood. He looked more like an avenging angel. His hands were red too, slippery, as he pressed down on Merlin's stomach.

The sound of the battle was dieing down, the clash of metal on metal and the pounding hoof beats of the war horses dwindled to the moans and cries of the dieing. A cheer rose up over the field and Merlin realised in a dim part of his fading mind that they had won. King Arthur had won another victory against the Saxons.

Except here Arthur was, leaning over Merlin who was sprawled in a darkening puddle of his own blood. Arthur was _here with him, _not victorious like he should have been in that moment.

Things were starting to get a little hazy. Merlin's eyes fluttered closed, and his stomach had long since started to go numb, and Arthur was muttering under his breath, an almost soothing litany. Merlin would have pointed out that Arthur was talking to himself, a sure sign of him losing his mind, but he couldn't really drum up the effort to actually speak the words.

And then Arthur growled, "Goddamn it, Wizard, _stay with me_," jamming his hands down harder, and Merlin let out a weak cry of pain at the action.

"S-stop," Merlin slurred, eyes tearing, pooling at the corners before dripping down to itch his earlobes. He _wanted_ to sink into unconsciousness. "That h-hurts."

"Of course it does," Arthur ground out, his _Idiot_ silent but damning. "The physician will be here any moment now, and I swear to God if you've made me get bloody for no reason at all, I'll _kill_ you myself."

"Ha," Merlin gasped as a thread of pain shot up from his stomach, tightening his chest until he could barely breathe. "Little late for those sorts of threats," he panted.

Merlin's vision started to grey again, everything looking further away, and Arthur's face loomed above him, lips pressed in a tight scowl. "'s okay," Merlin tried to reassure him but the words were getting stuck in his throat and a wave of lethargy swept across him, threatening to take him with it. Of its own accord, Merlin's hand reached up to trace Arthur's cheekbone. The warmth of his skin felt like heaven against Merlin's ice-cold fingertips. "I'm going to be okay."

Arthur caught Merlin's hand and pressed it to his mouth in an affectionate gesture that contradicted his next words. "Merlin," he shouted, but he sounded far away, voice that was pitched at a soft whisper. "Merlin, you aggravating, stubborn idiot, _stay with me_."

Merlin tried to smile at the note of panic in Arthur's voice, at the way 'Idiot' almost seemed just this side of affectionate, but then his body seized up in an intense thrall of pain, and he slipped into black.

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Merlin's next waking moments were a blur of pain, fever and the bright red splash of colour behind his eyelids.

He dreamt of Arthur growling "HEAL HIM!" and the court physician replying he wasn't a God and there was only so much he could do. He dreamt of Gwen crying by his bed, tears trickling from between her fingers, of Lancelot sitting near, of Galahad telling him some frustratingly complicated story…

He dreamt of fingers carding through his hair, pushing it away from his sweaty forehead. Lips trailed from his cheekbone to the corner of his mouth and whispered pleas of _"Don't leave me," i_n his ear.

All the noises and distractions blended together in his head until Merlin just couldn't take it anymore and he whispered hoarsely. "Would you all be quiet? Please, I'm trying to die here."

There was a pregnant pause before Merlin blinked and Arthur's face was hovering over his. "Hello." He said.

Merlin smiled faintly, the one movement hurting. God, he felt like he had been stampeded by Arthur's warhorses. Twice. "Hi."

Arthur's own smile back was a little strained around the corners and his eyes lacked their usual lustre. Merlin took the opportunity to take a look at Arthur. His blonde hair was sticking up in all directions like he had been yanking on it repeatedly. Dark circles painted the skin beneath his eyes and he looked a few shades paler than he normally did. Merlin would have joked that Arthur was trying to impersonate himself but something in Arthur's face told Merlin that now was not the time for jokes.

Merlin licked his lips, trying to wet the skin that felt like it would crack at any moment. "What happened?" Arthur flinched. "You…You nearly died, you idiot." The hand at Merlin's temple took the sting out of the words as it smoother the hair away from his forehead.

"Oh." Merlin said, not quite sure what to say to that. "Well." The hand slid down to caress Merlin's cheek and he couldn't stop himself from turning into it, nuzzling it with his nose and mouth. It seemed like the right thing to do. Besides, he could always say he was delirious with blood loss or something.

Arthur's smile soon turned genuine, if only a shade similar to his normal smile. "You made me worry."

"I didn't mean to." Merlin looked up at Arthur, the previous events of the battlefield coming into sharp focus with a jolt. "You came for me."

"Of course I did." "You're a damn prat, you know that. What kind of King puts their life at risk for a court sorcerer? Are you deliberately trying to throw your life away?"

Arthur shrugged his shoulders lightly. "I'm just staying sharp. Keeping you alive is all the exercise I need to stay in shape."

"You still shouldn't have done it." Merlin berated, but deep inside, he was so happy. _Arthur had come for him. Arthur had saved him. _

Arthur's hand slid around to the nape of Merlin's neck, fingers caressing the tight knots of muscles he found there. Arthur's eyes turned affectionate.

"I really should." He said before leaning down to kiss Merlin. The kiss was chaste and incredibly, not what Merlin would have expected from passionate and powerful Arthur, but it fit the mood. Despite Merlin's brain shouting _ARTHUR! Arthur is kissing me!, _it felt incredibly right.

This was supposed to happen all along.

Merlin reached for him, his arms wrapping around Arthur's broad shoulders and hugging him to Merlin for a long moment. Merlin closed his eyes, smiling at the simple pleasure of Arthur's skin on his. And then Merlin's arms grew to heavy. Gently Arthur put him back on his pillow and Merlin sighed as he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness.

"Are you going to be here when I wake up?" Merlin asked sleepily, almost embarrassed that he felt it was some kind of wonderful dream.

Arthur's hand was back in his hair. "I will. Go to sleep Merlin." And Merlin did.

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Hope you guys enjoyed. Don't forget to click on the review button and tell me what you think!


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